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Andreescu, Shapovalov move on at Wimbledon, Auger-Aliassime out

Jun 28, 2022 | 2:06 PM

LONDON — Bianca Andreescu continued her successful grass-court season with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over Emina Bektas in first-round action at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Men’s 13th seed Denis Shapovalov also moved on with a wild five-set win over France’s Arthur Rinderknech, while sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime was upset by American Maxime Cressy in four sets.

Andreescu won 91 per cent of first-serve points and converted five of 10 break-point chances in a match that took just 54 minutes to complete.

Andreescu was strong all match but was a force in the first set, claiming all available service points and hitting 15 winners.

Andreescu advanced to the second round at the All England Club for the first time. She will next face 17th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

The 22-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is coming off her first grass-court final, making it to the championship match last week at Bad Homburg, Germany, before falling 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 to France’s Caroline Garcia.

Shapovalov had dominant first- and fifth-set performances in a 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 win over Rinderknech, ranked No. 62 in the world.

The victory in three hours 22 minutes ended a six-match losing streak for Shapovalov.

The tennis star from Richmond Hill, Ont., hit 20 aces and 58 winners, and broke Rinderknech seven times on 15 chances.

Shapovalov, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year, will next face Brandon Nakashima of the United States.

It was short tournament for Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime, the top-ranked Canadian in London, with a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) loss to Cressy.

Cressy came into Wimbledon ranked 45th in the world, 36 places below Auger-Aliassime.

But the six-foot-six American didn’t give up much against Auger-Aliassime, saving the only break point he faced.

Auger-Aliassime was also impressive on serve, firing 28 aces and winning 82 per cent of first-serve points. He faced break point just four times, saving three, but that was enough for Cressy to prevail in a match that had little margin for error.

 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2022.

The Canadian Press